LEADERS

President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari

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Bidhya Devi Bhandari was elected as Nepal's first woman president in a parliamentary vote in October 2015. She was deputy leader of the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and a former defence minister.

She is a campaigner for women's rights and widow of late communist leader Madan Kumar Bhandari.

The post of president is mainly ceremonial.

Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli

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Communist Party of Nepal Chairman Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was sworn in in February 2018, having previously served as prime minister in 2015-16.

An alliance of Oli's party and former Maoist rebels trounced the incumbent Nepali Congress party in 2017 polls.

Mr Oli heads the first government elected under a new national constitution, cementing Nepal's transformation from Hindu monarchy to a federal republic. He has promised to promote peace, stability and development in one of the world's poorest countries.

During Oli's last term in office in 2015, relations between Kathmandu and its traditional ally Delhi soured after protests over the constitution led to a blockade of the Nepal-India border.

His government is considered to be closer to China than India, with investment from China likely to be sought for a long-mooted Himalayan rail link and energy-starved Nepal's hydropower system.

MEDIA

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Media freedom is restricted by the fact that journalists have been the victims of violence, activists say.